Lancon, Scott

Here you will find lots of great information about the classes I teach, who I am, and what kind of things we'll be exploring this year! I'm looking forward to being your teacher and I can't wait to get started, we've gota lot of important things to learn by the end of the year!

Be sure to state in the subject line what who you are and what class the information is for!

Bio

I graduated with honors from L. D. Bell High School in Hurst, Texas in 1993 after participating in numerous GT programs and student activities. I then joined the United States Navy and trained to become a Nuclear Reactor Operator, serving for ten years on two submarines, the USS Spadefish and the USS West Virginia, and at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard, which allowed me to travel the world while serving my country. I got to see various countries such as Italy, Bahrain, Singapore, and Japan and enjoy their cultures and scenic beauty. I have also lived on both coasts of the United States and met people from all levels of socioeconomic backgrounds that have enriched my life and experience. Following my military career, I worked in a few different industries in management, customer service, and sales, working with customers both here in the United States and abroad. Recently, I have completed my Masters' Degree at the University of Texas at San Antonio.

I have learned a great deal about how to educate students and how to ensure that all students are being given the opportunity to express themselves, learn effectively, and be empowered. I look forward to sharing my experiences and knowledge with you as we learn and grow

Class Schedule

Education:University of Texas at San Antonio - January 2015 - Current· Seeking a Master's Degree in Educational Leadership

ACT SA Teacher Certification Program, 2012-13· Received certification to teach in the state of Texas for Business Education 6-12

Hawaii Pacific University, BS in Business Administration, Major in Marketing, May 2003
· Graduated Summa Cum Laude, 3.92/4.00 GPA
· Completed 4-year degree program in 20 months while working full time at Pearl Harbor Shipyard.
· Emphasis in International Business and ManagementLawrence D. Bell High School, Hurst, TX, 1993
· National Honor Society inductee
· Excelled in Art, Sciences, and Math
· Gifted & Talented program for English & Social Studies, Advanced Placement Math & Science

And now I'd like to give you a glimpse of how I will be conducting my classroom:

My Vision of Myself as an Educator

As an educator, I will have many responsibilities, both to my students and to myself. The basis for a positive learning environment is classroom management and, according to Marzano, the key to this is to create a positive Student-Teacher relationship. What my class looks and feels like will go a long way towards establishing this relationship from the moment my students walk into the room for our first meeting, so it is important that this make the right statement. I have many ideas as to what this classroom will look, feel, and sound like that will make the students feel safe, secure, and trusting so that we can hit the ground running and begin trusting and learning right away. First, I will create a visually supportive environment. My classroom will be neat and clean, with visuals arranged in an orderly fashion. I will be using many stories from my previous career in the Navy, so in order to establish this, I would prefer that the walls have a number of posters with a Navy or nautical theme. My desk and one bulletin board will have personal mementos of my service time to give kids a sense of not only what I did, but that I was once closer to their age and it will reinforce one of my main teaching points that an education can help you to go far in life. I will have a seating chart in place soon after the start of the school year begins, as I intend to learn student names as soon as possible to make them feel at home faster. All these elements will contribute to a sense of adventure that, along with my lesson plan, will help students remember what they have done on a daily basis and keep things fresh in their mind for the rest of the day hopefully.

Also, I will strive to make my classroom a place of active learning by engaging students in the lesson through participation. Students will be spoken to as adults, with many “Misters” and “Miss” attachments added to make them feel important. Students and I will always have respect for each other, as this is important to creating a positive learning environment, so students will be required to ask permission to speak in order for me to be able to communicate to them, but I will be free with giving them this permission, so as not to stifle student interaction. I will entertain them with examples of where I may have used this lesson plan in life, or how this information can be used in the real world. Assignments will be given out with the feel of “you are working as a...”style directions, and students will be challenged to complete the assignments as a professional to help make the task seems less like schoolwork and more like something that they will use in life. Work will use Graphic Representations to enhance concepts and utilize similarities and differences in some activities to engage higher level, creative thinking. I will also have many Cooperative Learning activities where students will be able to work as a group to encourage interaction with each other without the need to ask permission. All in all, students will be made to feel like their work is important and they are smart, interesting people that have good jobs and are making their own money. Encouragement will come in the form of verbal praise for a job well done. Other rewards will include “R&R” (rest and relaxation)time to pursue individual activity and sometimes documented achievement awards, as Marzano recommends teachers provide recognition to students for achievements. This will be very familiar to many students, as a similar system of recognition is in place in many video game systems for achievements, so students will feel that this is another system to master, just like their games. In this manner, I will create an organized, orderly style that will help students to settle into a firm routine that enhances learning.

Finally, I will use clearly displayed rules and set expectations for the students early in the term. I will use the rules I’ve created and the lesson plan that I set up to impress upon students that I value their cooperation and their help is necessary to smooth operations and, therefore, learning. I will let them know that I expect them to try their best in every effort because that’s all that I can expect, but I will always push them to reach new potentials deep within themselves. I will act as their “Boss, just like every other boss you'll ever have”, and as such, I will always be monitoring their activities to make sure activities are being actively pursued and any discipline problems are nipped in the bud so students can concentrate on their work. As with all work, preparation is the key. I will let them know that, while they are respected members of “the crew”, I am in charge and responsible for them in the end, so I must have their commitment to the rules and my instructions every day. Students will also be advised that they have a responsibility to each other as well, and need to treat each other properly in order to keep operations on target and efficient. The more horseplay occurs, the less time students will have for fun and “R&R”, so it is to everyone’s benefit to cooperate and act civilly to each other. Finally, I will sum up things at the end of the day, and will dismiss them only when the debriefing is complete (not the bell).This will reinforce to students that work is to be completed properly and not half-done, because that is not acceptable in the real world if you want to keep your job!

All in all, the goal of my mission-oriented teaching style will be to bring confidence and excitement to the student’s work and create an atmosphere of solid work ethic and learning. I will help students realize that if we all strive to work together and work hard, they will see value in themselves and their work, they will be instilled with pride and satisfaction in a job well done, and they will be filled with the self-confidence that will inspire them for the rest of their lives to make the right choices and be the best they can be.

Classroom Expectations

Classroom Rules

Mr. Lancon’s Rules of the Class:

Be Ready to Learn!

- Students should be in your seat when the bell rings, be logged in, and be working on the Warmup Assignment.
- If we can’t get class started on time, we may not go over something you might need for a test, so BE READY WHEN THE BELL RINGS!
- Student that choose to not be ready will be marked tardy and will have 10 points deducted from the Warmup for the day. Students will receive 1/2 off the points for the day if it takes more than 5 minutes to complete the warmup.
- Students with perfect attendance will have 10 points added to their Test average for the grading period.

Listen and Learn

- Listening is a critical life skill, but one that takes practice!
- Turn off or silence any communication devices. Save your texting, messaging, or other communication for later!
- Distracting devices will be confiscated per school rules.
- Students that wish to ask a question should quietly raise their hand.
- Remember, one finger = one question, two fingers = bathroom break, and three or more fingers = "I have alot of questions, please help as soon as possible!"
- If you are lost, first look back in the reading material for the last thing you were working on, and proceed from there. If you still don’t understand the material, raise your hand.

Be Respectful

- Remember the GOLDEN RULE.
- There is no such thing as a stupid question. Alert me if you need help.
- Be patient. Not everyone understands things as fast as you do!
- Respect is a two way street. Those that learn this go far in life!
- Those that show respect will be rewarded with respect from their peers.
- Those that choose to be rude and disrupt the class environment will lose the points for the warmup assignment. If tardy, they will lose points from the day before. If no points are available that week, a previous grade will be changed.

Practice INTEGRITY

-In Business Education, if you cheat, you are only cheating yourself out of basic life skills. Have personal integrity and respect for your own future.
-A Lapse in Integrity will result in a zero for the activity.
-If you are knowingly helping someone cheat, you will also get a zero.

HAVE FUN!

-If you make your work a challenge or a game, you will find time passing quickly and in no time, your work will be done!
-If you complain about the work or if you have a bad attitude, you bring not only yourself but others down as well.
-Choose to have a great day! ONLY YOU CAN DO IT!!

Equitable Treatment of All Students

Students will have accommodations or modifications for their special needs. Accommodations will include:

1) Size of lessons - Adapting the number of items that learners are expected to learn, completion of assignments in smaller sections leading up to a whole to check for understanding along the way, of adapting the lesson to be provided one item at a time to allow students to manage the information at a more manageable pace will allow some students the opportunity to learn at their pace.

2) Time - Allowing the student more time to complete an assignment or testing, giving more time for a student to formulate answers during question and answer sessions, or giving a student additional time to prepare themselves for the class so they have their minds ready for learning when class begins.

3) Input - Provide different methods for the student to absorb the lesson: visual, auditory, and tactile stimulus, semantic mapping, hands-on activities, and cooperative learning to allow the student many different methods of learning. 4) Output - Students will be given the opportunity to have a different form of graded examination (for example, oral exams instead of timed, written exams, or project work to be turned in at the same time as the test, etc, based on the student's needs) if their needs dictate a different form of assessment than the standard. 5) Level of Support - Students that need additional support in their learning to help explain the subject matter will receive pre-teach materials, additional time with me while other students are working on individual or group assignments, or personal tutoring if available to help them achieve the level of understanding they need. 6) Difficulty - I will allow a student with special needs to have adapted lessons with different assessment criteria, easier-to-understand wording in questions, and other methods of ensuring that these students have the chance to show they understand the material. 7) Participation - Students with special needs will have options with regards to participation that allows them to work up to their abilities but not be overwhelmed or asked to do something they are not capable of doing. This will allow them to be included as much as possible and raise their self-confidence.Modifications to the lesson plans to assist special needs students will include:1) Alternate Goals - Using the same materials, lessons will be altered to give different goals to the special needs student that will work to achieve according to their abilities. This will let the student learn what they can while keeping up with the lessons the other students are working on. 2) Substitute Curriculum - Some students will need significant modification, such that their lesson plans, determined by their needs, will include different instruction and materials to learn, usually determined by an ARD board's expert recommendations.

Six Instructional Strategies
Cooperative Learning - Cooperative Learning in my classroom will encompass students being involved in the discussion, through methods like choral reading, group project work, pair sharing, and other methods of inclusion that brings students into the lesson plan and instruction.

Identifying Similarities and Differences - This method of instruction engages students by asking them to make comparisions between something they know and the things they are being taught. This will allow them to build on what they already know, and apply that to what they are learning now. This also engages students on a higher level of mental activity and cements the lesson even further.

Graphic Organizers - Students will not only learn by reading and listening to the activity, but will learn to make associations via graphics such as charts, graphs, visuals, hands-on objects, and other ways to make the lesson more "real" and memorable.

Practice in Class- Students will have time to practice the lessons in class, then will have follow up work in class to cement the learning and practice the skills they have picked up with the lesson. This will be an important part of the learning, as it is commonly believed that it takes a learner 7 times practicing an activity or memorizing a piece of information before it is effectively learned. This makes the repetition of skills learned a vital part of learning.

Advanced Organizers - Rubrics that let students know what they will be graded on and an effective grading system will be employed. This will give the students the confidence to know HOW they will be graded, thus freeing the student to concentrate on that and reduce stress over what is needed to be successful.

Cues and Questions - Students will be challenged with questions that not only ask them to recall information, but to apply that information to situations, analyze information with critical thinking, make judgements on relative worth, and put things together using multiple techniques. This will make "Thinkers" out of our students and prepare them for challenges down the road, both at school and in the real world.